The present invention relates to an electronic mail communication apparatus, electronic mail system, and electronic mail communication method which use subaddresses that are added to a mail address corresponding to one account to classify the mail address into a plurality of destinations.
Recently, information communication networks using communication systems such as the Internet, personal computer LANS, and personal computer communications have been greatly spread in offices, homes, and the like.
An electronic mail application as one of the typical network applications can connect different types of communication systems, e.g., the Internet and a personal computer LAN, as well as the same type of communication systems, and hence is used as an indispensable communication means.
At present, a portable terminal such as a notebook personal computer or PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) can transmit/receive electronic mail on the move by a PHS (Personal Handyphone System: second-generation cordless phone system) capable of digital transmission at 32 kbps or a digital portable telephone set that can receive a packet communication service.
For example, an electronic mail system using the internet will be described. An electronic mail sender accesses the mail server at the transmitting end through a public telephone network or the like to search for a mail server at the receiving end (destination) in accordance with a predetermined program. The electronic mail is stored in the receiver""s mail box in the mail server at the receiving end. The receiver reads out the electronic mail addressed to him/her and transmits a reply electronic mail.
In such electronic mail transmission/reception, one mail address conforming to the rule xe2x80x9cID (user""s name or the like)xe2x80x9d@ xe2x80x9corganization to which the user belongsxe2x80x9d xe2x80x9ccountry namexe2x80x9d is generally allocated to one account. The user at the transmitting end designates the mail address of the transmission destination as a destination, and transmits electronic mail to the mail server in which the mail address of the transmission destination is registered. The user at the receiving end reads out the electronic mail addressed to him/her from the his/her mail box in the mail server.
In the above situation, a plurality of users may want to use one account. In this case, the following problems are posed.
First, when, for example, all the members of a family use one mail address allocated to one account, all the members can access every electronic mail regardless of any user of the family to which the electronic mail is transmitted. Therefore, the privacy of each member of the family cannot be protected.
Second, since the privacy cannot be protected for the above reason, a sender who wants to transmit electronic mail to a specific individual cannot transmit the electronic mail in a casual manner because the electronic mail may be read by users other than the one whom the sender wants to transmit the mail.
Third, when a user receives an electronic mail addressed to him/her, he/she simultaneously receives electronic mail addressed to other users allocated to the same account. For this reason, a longer period of time than is necessary is required for connection to a provider or the like, resulting in an increase in communication expense.
Fourth, in some case, a user may receive an electronic mail addressed to another user allocated to the same account even if there is no mail addressed to him/her, resulting in waste in various points, e.g., communication expenses, time, and the power consumed by a communication terminal.
If, however, all the members of the family respectively acquire accounts, the charge corresponding to the number of accounts is required, resulting in an increase in expense.
Furthermore, when a user is to individually use this system, he/she may want to use electronic mail in different ways in accordance with the contents. In this case as well, the user must acquire accounts equal in number to the number of ways in which electronic mail is used.
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above situation, and has as its object to provide an electronic mail communication apparatus, electronic mail system, electronic mail communication method, and electronic mail transmission method which can send electronic mail to a plurality of destinations, as needed, by adding respective subaddresses to the mail address allocated to one account. The present invention has the following characteristics.
(1) According to the present invention, there is provided an electronic mail communication apparatus comprising subaddress adding means for adding a subaddress to a mail address, the subaddress classifying the mail address into one of a plurality of destinations, and transmission means for transmitting electronic mail to which the subaddress is added by the subaddress adding means.
An electronic mail communication apparatus preferably comprises subaddress designating means for designating a subaddress which is added to a mail address to classify the mail address into a plurality of destinations, and reception means for receiving. electronic mail to which the subaddress designated by the subaddress designating means is added.
According to this configuration, the electronic mail communication apparatus at the transmitting end can transmit electronic mail to the mail server after adding a subaddress to the mail address of the electronic mail by using the subaddress adding means. The electronic mail communication apparatus at the receiving end designates a subaddress by using the subaddress designating means, and receives the electronic mail to which the designated subaddress is added from the mail server. This allows electronic mail communication using mail addresses to which subaddresses are respectively added.
A user cannot therefore access any electronic mail addressed to others, and hence privacy can be protected unlike the conventional case in which all the members allocated to the same account can access every electronic mail.
In addition, since electronic mail can be addressed to a specific user by using a subaddress, the user at the receiving end can read out only the electronic mail addressed to him/her without accessing electronic mail addressed to others. This can shorten the communication time, and savings in time, communication expense, and charge for electricity can be expected.
It is preferable that the electronic mail communication apparatus further comprise reception means for receiving electronic mail to which no subaddress is added.
According to this configuration, when electronic mail to which the subaddress designated by the subaddress designating means is to be received, not only this electronic mail but also electronic mail having a mail address which corresponds to the account but has no subaddress can be received.
Preferably, the electronic mail communication apparatus further comprises reception condition storage means for storing reception conditions corresponding to subaddress, and in which the reception means selectively receives an electronic mail based on the reception condition corresponding to the subaddress added to the mail address.
In addition, there is provided an electronic mail communication apparatus comprising reception condition storage means for storing reception conditions corresponding to subaddresses, the subaddresses being added to a mail address to classify a mail address into a plurality of destinations, and reception means for selectively receiving an electronic mail based on the reception condition corresponding to the subaddress added to the mail address. In this case, it is preferable that the reception means receives an electronic mail to which no subaddress is added.
According to this configuration, since the reception conditions are stored in the storage unit, only electronic mail to which a subaddress corresponding to the reception conditions are added can be received. This can impose restrictions on electronic mail that can be received in accordance with situations.
There is also provided an electronic mail communication apparatus comprising reception means for receiving an electronic mail, terminal information storage means for storing terminal information which makes communication terminals correspond to a subaddress which is added to a mail address to classify the mail address into a plurality of destinations, and notification means for specifying a communication terminal corresponding to the subaddress added to electronic mail received by the reception means on the basis of the terminal information, and informing the specified communication terminal, of the reception of the electronic mail addressed to the specified communication terminal.
According to this configuration, the communication terminal corresponding to the subaddress added to the electronic mail received by the reception means can be specified on the basis of the terminal information, and the electronic mail to which the subaddress is added can be transmitted to the specified communication terminal. By registering the terminal information, therefore, electronic mail can be received regardless of whether the terminal is located indoors or outdoors.
(2) According to the present invention, there is provided an electronic mail communication system comprising a base station and electronic mail communication apparatuses in which, the base station comprising, reception means for receiving an electronic mail, storage means for storing the correspondence of subaddress classifying the mail address into a plurality of destinations and the electronic mail communication apparatuses and transmission means for transmitting the electronic mail to one of the mail communication apparatuses corresponding to the subaddress added to the electronic mail received by the reception means on the basis of the correspondence stored in the storage means.
According to this configuration, since a mail address to which a subaddress is added is set, a user can receive only electronic mail addressed to him/her without acquiring any individual account. This shortens the communication time, and savings in time, communication expense, and charge for electricity can be expected.
It is preferable that the electronic mail communication system comprises a mail server for managing electronic mail in units of mail addresses allocated to accounts, and an electronic mail communication apparatus communicated with the mail server, the mail server comprising in which reception means for receiving electronic mails having an address and a subaddress classifying a mail address into a plurality of destinations and storage means for storing the electronic mail received by the reception means in units of the subaddress.
According to this configuration, in the mail server, the reception means receives electronic mails having an address and a subaddress, and each of electronic mails is stored in the storage means in units of subaddress, thereby allowing electronic mail management based on the subaddress.
In the electronic mail communication system, the mail server comprises storage means for storing terminal information which makes the respective subaddress correspond to other communication terminals and transmission means for transmitting the electronic mail to one of the mail communication terminals corresponding to the subaddress added to the electronic mail received the reception means on the basis of the terminal information stored in the storage means.
According to this configuration, the mail server transmits the electronic mail to the mail communication terminal corresponding to the subaddress added to the electronic mail on the basis of the terminal information stored in the storage means. By storing the terminal information, therefore, electronic mail can be received regardless of whether the terminal is located indoors or outdoors.
According to the present invention, there is provided an electronic mail communication system comprising a mail server for managing electronic mail in units of mail addresses allocated to accounts, and an electronic mail communication apparatus, wherein the electronic mail communication apparatus comprises subaddress adding means for adding the first subaddress to a mail address, the subaddress classifying the mail address into a plurality of destinations, transmission means of transmitting an electronic mail to which the first subaddress is added by the subaddress adding means, reception means for receiving an electronic mail having a mail address to which a predetermined subaddress is added, the mail server comprises reception means for receiving electronic mail having a mail address to which the second subaddress is added, and storage means for storing the electronic mail received by the reception means in units of the second subaddress.
According to this configuration, the electronic mail communication apparatus causes the subaddress adding means to add the first subaddress to a mail address, and the mail server causes the reception means to receive a electronic mail having a mail address to which a predetermined subaddress is added. The mail server causes the reception means to receive the electronic mail having a mail address to which the second subaddress is added, and the mail server causes the storage means to storage the electronic mail received by the reception means in unit of the second subaddress.
Electronic mail communication can therefore be performed by using mail addresses to which subaddresses are respectively added. This allows individual management of electronic mail without individually acquiring an account.
When, therefore, a plurality of users are to use one account, a user cannot access any electronic mail addressed to others, and hence privacy can be protected unlike the conventional case in which all the members can access every electronic mail.
In addition, since electronic mail can be addressed to a specific user by using a subaddress, the user at the receiving end can read out only the electronic mail addressed to him/her without accessing electronic mail addressed to others. This can shorten the communication time, and savings in time, communication expense, and charge for electricity can be expected.
(3) According to the present invention, there is provided an electronic mail communication system which includes a mail server for managing electronic which includes a mail server for managing electronic mail in units of mail addresses allocated to accounts and in which a plurality of communication terminals are connected to the mail server, wherein the mail server comprises reception means for receiving an electronic mail having an address and a subaddress classifying a mail address into a plurality of destinations and storage means for storing the electronic mail received by the reception means in units of subaddress.
According to this configuration, the mail server causes the reception means to receive the electronic mail having an address and a subaddress, and stores the electronic mail in the storage means in units of subaddress. This allows electronic mail management using subaddress.
In the electronic mail communication system, the mail server preferably comprises storage means for storing terminal information which makes the respective subaddress correspond to other communication terminals and transmission means for transmitting the electronic mail to one of the mail communication terminals corresponding to the subaddress added to the electronic mail received the reception means on the basis of the terminal information stored in the storage means.
According to this configuration, the mail server transmits the electronic mail to the communication terminal corresponding to the subaddress added to the electronic mail received by the reception means on the basis of the terminal information stored in the storage means. By storing the terminal information, therefore, electronic mail can be received regardless of whether the terminal is located indoors or outdoors.
(4) According to the present invention, there is provided an electronic mail communication apparatus which transits/receives data to/from a base station including position registration means, comprising storage means for storing positional conditions for reception of an electronic mail and subaddress classifying a mail address into a plurality of destinations in correspondence with each other and reception means for collating the positional conditions with position information of the electronic mail communication apparatus which is received from the position registration means of the base station, and receiving electronic mail to which a subaddress corresponding to a reception condition that allows reception of the electronic mail is added.
According to this configuration, the position information received from the base station is collated with each reception condition input by the user in advance and stored in the storage means to discriminate a subaddress corresponding to the condition that allows reception, and the electronic mail to which the subaddress is added is received by the reception means. By setting reception conditions, therefore, the reception of electronic mail can be controlled in accordance with the conditions.
This allows a user to perform reception control in accordance with places or the like. For example, the user can selectively receive business electronic mail and private electronic mail.
(5) According to the present invention, there is provided an electronic mail communication method in an electronic mail system, comprising transmitting an electronic mail after adding each of respective subaddresses to the electronic mail, the subaddresses classifying the mail address as a plurality of destinations.
According to this configuration, electronic mail communication can be performed by using mail addresses to which subaddresses are respectively added. This allows individual management of electronic mail without individually acquiring an account.
When, therefore, a plurality of users are to use one account, a given user cannot access any electronic mail addressed to others, and hence privacy can be protected unlike the conventional case in which all the members can access every electronic mail.
In addition, since electronic mail can be addressed to a specific user by using a subaddress, the user at the receiving end can read out only the electronic mail addressed to him/her without accessing electronic mail addressed to others. This can shorten the communication time, and savings in time, communication expense, and charge for electricity can be expected.
When a given user is to privately use one account, he/she can use one mail address classified as a plurality of addresses by using subaddress. This allows electronic mail management in accordance with application purposes.
In addition, according to the present invention, there is provided an electronic mail communication method in an electronic mail system, comprising receiving an electronic mail to which a mail address corresponding to an account is added, and an electronic mail to which a subaddress is added, the subaddress classifying the mail address as a plurality of destinations.
According to this configuration, not only electronic mail having a subaddress and addressed to a given user but also electronic mail having a mail address corresponding to the common account are received. When, therefore, a plurality of users are to use one account, each user can receive private electronic mail and electronic mail addressed to all the users.
Furthermore, electronic mail can be transmitted to all the users by only adding the mail address corresponding to the account to the electronic mail. This can save the trouble of transmitting electronic mail to each user.
Additional objects and advantages of the present invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the present invention.
The objects and advantages of the present invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out hereinafter.